Never heard of him... sounds impressive. The bad part about boxing is that a record like that is something easily created in the right situations. Has he had any credible fights yet that should have gone past the 1st, or is he simply being thrown in the ring with losers off the streets?

well at first he was criticized for going against "scrubs" but with his 18KO to a title contender fighter to gain the #1 contendership for the WBA Super Featherweight Champ, pretty much makes him legit now.

Sounds like the next big thing... I guess I'll just need to see him fight to see for sure. You can't go off a guy's record in boxing; it's not until you see how he fights to see if he's a good fighter or just connected to the right people.

Anybody catch the destruction of Chris Byrd vs. Vladimir Klitchko? Byrd got totally, totally destroyed!
Never been a fan of his with that style of boxing. The last time he got knocked out like that was a clean left hook by Ike Ibeabuchi—who BTW should have ruled the division, had he not ended-up doing crazy things, landing him in jail (ala Mike Tyson).

I suspect VK will now unify the titles and rule the heavyweight division. I don’t see anyone challenging him, at this moment—too big, too skilled, and definitely too powerful.

Yeah, but I don't know why the hell Byrd took that fight! He had nowhere to go but down and Vlad had nothing to lose!

I was pulling for Chris Byrd and hoping that Klitchko would tire himself out by the 5th or 6th round (he was throwing a ton of punches), but the flurry of fists got the best of Byrd in the 6th and he never recovered. Those shots to the face may have looked like a flash knockdown, but Klitchko was working the body the whole fight (which is why I knew he would win). Fighters who focus on the body are usually more successful.

Right, Byrd didn't have to take the fight, but he took it because of the purse for him ($2 mil, and that’s his biggest one). And right now, Klitchko is the “box office” attraction in the heavys, outside of James Toney. VK already beat Byrd before, and Byrd was totally outmatched this time. I’m not sure I understood what you meant with “flash knockdown” above, but the shot that put him down (1st KD) was definitely not a flash knockdown. (Flash knockdowns usually come very early in fights when the fighter is dry and/or while off-balanced, and a fighter usually springs right up without any effects.) That right that put him down was flush and is the same right that has ended fights early for Klitchko. He's just that powerful. But I give credit to Byrd; he has a good chin, and he's never backed down from bigger heavyweights. Actually, it was Byrd who worked the body in hoping that VK would tire, and VK didn't really go to the body for he is almost exclusively a headhunter, mainly because of his height advantage and because he has 1-punch KO power. But Byrd was a definitely game fighter.

I wanna see a rematch. I think Chris Byrd could take Klitchko in another 12 rounder.

... but are we both in agreement that nobody can touch James Toney right now? I dunno about you, but Lights Out looks like the next Evander Holifield... but bigger in build. He's a monster in between the ropes. Please, God, give us one more Roy Jones Jr vs Lights Out match!!!

I don’t think we’ll see another rematch. There’s no rematch clause, plus VK already beat him twice, and he is looking to unify the division.

As for James Toney, I enjoy watching that cat because he is so masterful in his pugulistic art. He’s a tremendously gifted fighter, fun to watch, and he’s definitely a character. He has power, chin, and stamina (to go with his defense) even in this division. But he only pulled a draw last month with Hasim Rahman, mainly because he was just out of shape.

He can beat most top-10 heavyweights, especially when in shape, but he has a difficult time with big (tall) guys with a great jab and power (who can keep him at bay) because JT is just a natural counter-puncher. But if the opponent trades close quarters or languishes in the ropes, that’s usually "lights-out" country! A rematch needs to take place with Rahman, and I think JT will come in much better shape and win that fight. (He’s so skillful that he thinks that alone is enough to carry him.)

James Toney would kill Roy Jones on a rematch, no doubt. But that fight won’t happen because Toney is just too big, and Jones don’t want to tangle with the heavys now, for he’s already getting KO’d by light heavys with 1-punch! (Twice now.) Jones may be close to retirement with 1 or 2 more big fights. What’s being talked about is a possible Jones and Hopkins rematch. That would be interesting.

I'm looking forward to the De la Hoya and Mayorga fight. That should be a good one!

CjR wrote:I'm looking forward to the De la Hoya and Mayorga fight. That should be a good one!

Definately! That's the one I'm looking forward to also!

I don't know what it is, but I gotta pull for the Golden Boy. My best friend is Honduran... and he shares some sort of weird kindship with De La Hoya (even though Oscar's not from Honduras), so we've always rooted for him.

Byrd had to take the fight Klitchko was the madetory or he would have had his title stripped.

Ibeabuchi is crazy. He is in a crazy house in Nevada were they are filling him full of drugs to keep him sane. The president was arrested after he beatup a prostitute and refused to pay her. He coud have been the best. What a waste. Instead we have had to listen to that damn british accent of lennox Lewis for the last eight years.

Lamps and Merchant implied that he had a choice in who to fight, and said nothing about his belt being stripped. Obviously this was Byrd's big payoff and he has been wanting to avenge his earlier loss to VK.
If you have the link to the madatory, I'd like to read it.

#32 wrote:

CjR wrote:I'm looking forward to the De la Hoya and Mayorga fight. That should be a good one!

Definately! That's the one I'm looking forward to also!

I don't know what it is, but I gotta pull for the Golden Boy. My best friend is Honduran... and he shares some sort of weird kindship with De La Hoya (even though Oscar's not from Honduras), so we've always rooted for him.

Yeah, I’m definitely pulling for Oscar. He’s a great fighter and a class guy.

Mayorga has been talking trash and really getting inside Oscar’s skin (like Vargas did), so I know Oscar will want to punish him and then knock him out.
He’s dangerous, though, daring, and crazy. Very unorthodox and throws from strange angles, so it’s gonna be a show!

"Let us not forget that Byrd turned down a huge sum not to fight Wlad last year, let us also remember that Byrd only agreed to fight Wlad when Wlad became the Mandatory for the IBF. I am not calling Byrd a coward, if I were Byrd I would be reluctant to put my title on the line fighting a man who I am very unlikely to beat. Wlad chose to fight Byrd instead of fighting Brewster for a similar reason, Brewster would have been a much harder fight for him. Either way, both fighters deserve respect for making this fight happen." Kieran Redmond

OK, so he was mandatory, but maybe not a belt-stripping situation, specifically. Boxing has always been tricky with rankings and mandatories--and it's certainly one of the downsides of the sport. There have been a lot of fights that I've seen where the #3 or #4 contenders are fighting for the title and not #1 or #2, and that has always baffled me. I can see if there's injuries, but I've seen it all too often, so there's loopholes, I think, often times. But as long as the fights are great, that's what really matters most.

As for Ike, as you mentioned, he could have really been really great, but I think that war with Tua may have messed him up because he appeared to be a good guy to begin with--and he did too many really crazy things inexplicably afterwards.